The concentration
camp complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest killing center in
Nazi-occupied Europe. Located in Southern Poland, on the outskirts of the
town of Oswiecim, it consisted of the original camp, Auschwitz I, and the
much larger second camp of Birkenau (Brzezinka), 2 miles away, plus over
40 sub-camps [link], the largest of which was Buna (Monovitz) [link].

This aerial
photograph taken by the CIA in June 1944 shows the two camps.
(The color overlay
added by us.)

The camp was
established in 1940, less than a year after Germany occupied Poland in
WWII, and grew over the next few years into an entire complex providing
slave labor for the German industrial facilities in the area. In 1942,
it became the largest death camp, carrying out Hitler's "final solution" -
the plan to systematically kill all Jews in Europe.

It is estimated that between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died here. At its peak, Auschwitz I held as many as 20,000
prisoners at a time, Birkenau 90,000 and Buna 10,000. Historians estimate
that among the people sent to Auschwitz there were at least 1,100,000 Jews
from all the countries of occupied Europe, over 140,000 Poles (mostly political
prisoners), approximately 20,000 Gypsies from several European countries,
over 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and over ten thousand prisoners of
other nationalities. The majority of the Jewish deportees died in the gas
chambers immediately after arrival. Of the estimated 400,000 people who were placed in the main concentration camp or one of the sub-camps, less than half survived.

The camp continued
operation till its liberation by the Soviet Army in January 1945.

For more information
about the history of Auschwitz, visit this [link]
on the Auschwitz Museum website.

These
stairs in Auschwitz I show the wear of some 25 million visitors.

Today, the
site is managed by the Auschwitz-Birkenau
State Museum in Poland which, in addition to maintaining the
camps and providing visitor support, is also a very large research
and publications center. Over 25 million people have visited the
Auschwitz Museum since its establishment in 1947.

This virtual
tour of both camps tries to give viewers a first-hand experience of visiting
the actual sites. The photographs were taken in 2003 and 2004, by Alan
Jacobs.